Jim's Education
by Nekofujin
Summary: Melfina suggests that Jim goes to school... Chapter VI added!
1. Gene's Worst Nightmare Huh?

I must warn you, I wasn't in the most sane state of mind when I started writing this... Although I think it's a pretty darn good idea. Yeah. Umm... Enjoy!  
  
~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic (and cat ladies)  
  
**Disclaimer** I don't own Outlaw Star, I'm not making any money off it, no matter HOW hard I think. Hope. Wish.   
  
...Darn. Almost worked this time.  
  
It was a dark and stormy night. Except it was really about ten after noon. Actually, it was more overcast than stormy... Whatever.  
  
As the crew of the Outlaw Star puttered around Starwind and Hawking Enterprises on their own business, Melfina perused a magazine she had picked up from the newspaper stand. Lately she'd been buying different issues of different periodicals (sometimes to Gene's benefit-- once or twice she'd picked up a Playboy magazine mistaking it for a childrens' sport magazine), and they all seemed to have parental themes. Gene also appeared to have avoided Melfina when she said she wanted to talk, making up excuses like he had to walk the dog ("What dog?" would be Melfina's usual response, and the best Gene had come up with so far was "The one I was hired to walk"). However, one day, Gene wasn't so lucky...  
  
"Gene, I think we need to talk," Melfina said as Gene dozed on his couch. Gene suddenly got up. "Where are you going...?"  
  
"To walk the dog," Gene replied in a clearly rehearsed tone.  
  
"You've already walked the dog twice today, Gene..." There was a long pause.  
  
"Damn."  
  
"Gene, I wanted to talk to you about-" -Gene cringed- "Jim."  
  
Another long pause ensued, which was broken by Gene's nervous laughter. "Heh..." he finally said once he got his breath back. "I thought you were going to want to talk about something else..."  
  
Melfina was obviously puzzled. "...What?"  
  
"Um... Nevermind." Gene replied. "Now, what's this about Jim?"  
  
"Oh, right," Melfina said, getting back on subject. "I've been wondering if Jim's been growing up properly..."  
  
It took a moment to sink in. "Growing up... properly?" It finally hit Gene that Jim was only eleven, twelve in three months. "I never really thought about it..."  
  
"Well, I've been reading a lot of parenting literature, and I'm beginning to think that Jim isn't acting like a normal eleven-year-old should be-"  
  
"I don't think we have a whole lot to worry about, Mel," Gene interrupted, attempting to dismiss the subject with a wave of his hand. "He seems to be a pretty upright kid."  
  
Melfina appeared to be flustered. "But... well..." Another pause. "I think we should enroll Jim in school."  
  
Gene stared at Mel and ran his hand through his hair. He has very nice hair, you know. "Ummm... okay, you're kidding... right?"  
  
Melfina appeared to be puzzled once more. "I don't think so..."  
  
"Okay, why exactly is it you want to put Jim in school?"  
  
Melfina extracted a magazine from a pile she had heaped together on a nearby table. "It says right here that he should be intereacting with other children his age..." She pointed to a rather lengthy excerpt written by psycholgist Dr. I.M.A. Cannibal.  
  
Gene turned around, shaking his head. After some silent cogitating-- all through which Melfina waited patiently-- Gene decided it wasn't worth possibly throwing the whole engagement with Mel down the toilet over a silly little thing like education, no matter how unlikey the chances were of Melfina dumping him.  
  
"All right," he finally said, running his hand through his hair some more. "I suppose it couldn't hurt the little twerp..."  
  
Jim's going to school! *gasp* What strange and horrifying adventures await our juvenile hero in the next chapter?? And why haven't we seen hide nor hair of Jim since my last fan fic?? ...Why do I sound like I'm foreshadowing when I'm really not? ...No, really, I'm not. Darn it, just wait and see. 


	2. Underestimation

I apologize for my saneness. Unfortunately, it comes back EXACTLY when I DON'T want it to. Phooey.  
  
**Disclaimer** I still don't own Outlaw Star. Foo unto the copyright laws. FOO I SAY!!!  
  
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It was now three days after Gene and Melfina's talk about Jim's education. Gene and Jim sat in the middle school's counselor's office deciding on what classes Jim was to take, whispering various things to each other (mostly "Look at the size of his NOSE!!!" and "...Who wears a pocket protector anymore?") in the process.  
  
"First of all," the counselor began, "you'll be needing a math, science, and English (or Japanese? Interesting...) class for your grade's requirements. Now-" the counselor turned to Gene. "What grade level of math do you think your son be needing? Fourth? Fifth? Sixth?"  
  
Gene and Jim exchanged glances at the mention of Jim being Gene's son, and another time at the meek selection of math classes.  
  
"Do you have anything more... advanced?" Jim piped up after a brief pause in discussion.  
  
The couselor gave Jim a skeptical look, but typed something on his computer, paused and paused for a moment. "The most advanced math class we have available for the fifth grade is seventh..." Jim stifled a laugh. "..but I think we'll be starting you out in sixth to see how you do, okay, Jimmy?"  
  
"Jim," the eleven-year-old corrected, a bit irritated. "And I think I'll be doing just fine in seventh."  
  
"We'll see," the counselor continued. "As far as science goes, I think you'll be alright in our current fifth grade curriculum." Gene and Jim snickered. The couselor glared, but continued. "For your English requirement, I'll be putting you with the Language Arts class, and next semester you can move on to Literature."  
  
Jim seemed a bit worried about the English requirements... everyone had their strongpoints, and his were most everything... except for English. Gene knew what Jim was thinking, but neither of the pair said anything.  
  
***  
  
Jim ended up being enrolled in Physical Education, Social Studies, and Computer I in addition to his first three classes, and he was to start the next week. Gene and Jim decided to go shopping for school supplies in the meantime--  
  
"Hey, Jim, why don't you get THIS backpack?" Gene teased, flashing a pink and purple bag with rainbows and ponies on it. Jim glared.  
  
"I think this whole school crap is a lousy idea," Jim stated for the thirteenth time that day.   
  
Gene rolled his eyes. "Well, Melfina thinks it's a good idea, so I figure that you could give it a shot..."  
  
"What you REALLY mean is that you think you might be able to score with Mel if you do what she says."  
  
Gene stopped in his tracks, thinking of some way to combat Jim's all-too-correct point. "We're already engaged..." he mumbled at last. "I don't NEED any help scoring now."  
  
"Whatever," Jim replied, shaking his head. He studied a rather complex looking black backpack-- it had six side pockets, nine front pockets, and four main pockets. "How about this one?"  
  
Gene checked the price tag, and did a double-take. "70 WONG?? Just go with the pink horsie one, 'kay?"  
  
"Oh..." Jim said, noticing the price tag as well. "Yeah, I guess that could be a problem..." He looked around. "How about this one?" Jim suggested, pointing at a black leather bag for twice as much. He grinned.  
  
Gene grimaced. "On second thought, let's just go with that one..." Gene checked the shopping list as Jim removed the backpack from its rack. "Next, it says you need a three-ring binder... what the hell is that??"  
  
Jim shrugged. "Beats me... why don't we ask someone? Look, there's a sales attendant over there..." He pointed at an unintelligent looking man with a nametag that read "Igor".   
  
Gene balked. "Why don't we find someone more--"  
  
"Attractive?" Jim finished for him mockingly.The man grunted at nothing in particular, as if to prove Gene's point.  
  
"Well... yeah." Gene scanned the area. "Look, there's a babe over there."  
  
"She doesn't work here, Gene."  
  
"Damn."  
  
Jim walked over to Igor himself. "Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me what three-ring binders are and where they're located in your st--"  
  
The man interrupted Jim with a grunt, and merely pointed at an aisle that was identified by a sign as "School Supplies".   
  
"Oh... umm... okay. Thanks..."  
  
"*Snort.*"  
  
Jim joined Gene and they walked together to the aisle. After much difficulty, they found a shelf marked "3-Ring Binders".   
  
"Well, here they are..." Jim said quizzically. "...what do they do??"  
  
Gene opened one cautiously. "...It has these things in it with all your school subjects on 'em," he said, stating the obvious as Jim looked over his shoulder. "And there's this one marked 'Paper'."  
  
"'PAPER'??" Jim repeated, then laughed. "This school I'm going to must be ANCIENT!!" Then he stopped and thought for a moment. "Gene, don't make me go!" he pleaded on his knees.  
  
Gene cocked an eyebrow and looked at him, shaking his head sadly. "You're pathetic."  
  
"At least I'm not a space cherry." Jim shot back, getting back on his feet.  
  
"Up yours!"  
  
Ah, yes, the end of another chapter. It didn't flow as well as I may have liked, but whatever. And I would also like to say that Gene, as far as my knowledge goes, is still a space cherry (because I have a feeling some of you may disagree with me), but I would like to remind you that he never really "popped" his cherry, and that he can only pilot the Outlaw Star because of the Physical Navigation System (courtesy of Episode #5: "The Beast Girl, Ready to Pounce"). So neener.   
  
Anywho, it'll be a while until my next update because of a rather *nasty* move my parents are making that I'm helping with, so I'll add another chapter whenever I get the chance (or really, whenever they get their computer hooked up). In any cause, ja for now, and the next chapter will *hopefully* make more sense.  
  
~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic 


	3. Computer I

HOORAY!!!! I LOVE DSL!!!!!!! Mine!!!! You can't have it!!! Get your own!!! Oh, yeah, and more of my fanfickly thing. Nice.  
  
~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star. But maybe someday Gene will be mine...  
  
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"Are you sure you have your lunch?" Melfina asked with motherly concern.  
  
"Yeah," Jim replied, tiring of Melfina's suffocation. "Don't worry, Mel, I'll be fine..."  
  
"Got your underwear on right?" Gene teased. Jim glared. Gene, more serious now, said "Need a ride?"  
  
"Nah, I'll take myself to school in Ehefrau." Jim checked his watch. "Well, I'd better be going..."  
  
"See ya, Jim." Gene said, ruffling Jim's already un-neat hair. "When you get back, we have a job to get working on-- meet me at the bar when school's out, 'kay?"  
  
"Okay, 'bye," Jim said, starting Ehefrau. He waved as he drove away.  
  
Melfina waved back. "Do you think he'll be alright?" she asked Gene. "I worry about him..."  
  
"He'll be fine," Gene replied, walking back into Starwind & Hawking Enterprises. Melfina remained on the stoop for a few more moments, gazing in the direction Jim had left.   
  
***  
  
Jim pulled into the school's parking lot a few minutes early. other kids, most of them younger than he, were already crowding around the front entrance. He attracted the attention of a few of his soon-to-be peers with Ehefrau.  
  
"You can DRIVE??" a little brunette stared in awe, and reached out a hand to touch Ehefrau.  
  
"NO!!!" Jim cried, jumping between the girl and his car. The rest of the children stared. "DON'T touch!" he warned them all. As a group, they slowly backed away. Jim breathed a sigh of relief, then checked his class schedule. His first class was Computer I. He shrugged on his backpack and left to find the classroom.  
  
***  
  
Jim had a surprisingly difficult time finding the classroom-- the school, as primitive as it seemed to be, had very complicated halls. He entered the classroom a few minutes late.  
  
The teacher, a man who appeared to be in his mid-forties with a comb-over, glared, frustrated, at his computer monitor. After a few moments he noticed Jim's presence.  
  
"Oh, hello," he said, gesturing for Jim to come in past the doorway. "You're Jimmy, right?"  
  
Jim bit back a nasty reply. "Jim, actually."  
  
"Right, Jimmy..." the teacher had returned to his computer, grumbling a few cursings.   
  
Jim glared, but was still curious about his teacher's problems. "Jim. And what's wrong with your computer?"  
  
The teacher gave the computer tower a good whack, then said, "It keeps coming up with this damned-" he stopped suddenly-"darned message..."  
  
Jim gave the monitor a momentary inspection, typed a few things expertly, and stood back, examining his work. The teacher stared in awe.   
  
"That should do it," Jim said, pleased with his "educator's" reaction. "Where should I sit...?"  
  
His teacher waved in a general direction, where an unoccupied computer was. He took a seat in the flimsy plastic chair, questioning its durability. The boy next to him, black-haired and blue-eyed, waved his greetings.  
  
"I'm Wally!" he whispered. "You're smart."  
  
"Um... thanks," Jim replied. "I'm Jim." (heehee, redundant, yes?)  
  
The whiteboard in front of the class instructed them to search for a few things on the internet as the teacher attempted to recreate Jim's expertise on his own with a dumbstruck expression.  
  
Jim finished the assignment within the first few minutes (most of it consisted of finding kickball suppliers and how much an antique Dodge Viper would cost). Instantly bored, he began estimating figures for the Outlaw Star's expense, how long it would take to pay Fred back, and how many beers Gene drank in the last month.  
  
The teacher, still immersed in trying to find out what Jim had done, raised his head at the sound of Jim's PDA. He walked over to where Jim sat.  
  
"No electronics in school, Jimmy," he said sternly, gesturing for Jim to hand it over.  
  
"Jim," he corrected once more. "J- I- M. And I need this for my business." He thought for a moment. "And check out what it does." He typed a few keys, then showed the results to his teacher.  
  
"SOLITAIRE!!" the teacher squealed, then gasped as an exciting idea dawned on him. "Can you get solitaire on MY PDA?"  
  
"Sure, give it here."  
  
Jim's teacher trotted over to his desk, pulled out his archaic PDA, and gave it to Jim eagerly, who, after a few moments, returned it.  
  
"Jimmy, you're a genius!" the educator cried, hugging his PDA.  
  
"Jim," he corrected once more. His teacher, now sitting at his desk contentedly playing solitaire, didn't even hear him.  
  
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Alas, the end of another chapter. It's coming along better than I imagined it to... ^^!!! heehee! Anywho, another update shortly, I think... Ja mata! 


	4. Math Class

Hooray for Chapter IV!!! By the by, thanks for all the reviews... If I didn't get any, I probably wouldn't have kept adding on ^^.   
  
**Disclaimer** I don't own Outlaw Star, but whoever does must be a very wealthy (and smart ^^) person.  
  
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Jim continued to tinker on his PDA without objection from his teacher, who sat contentedly playing solitaire, until the bell rang.  
  
Jim's next class was math. He found his way to the classroom with improved ease-- he had passed it wandering the halls in his attempts to find Computer I. He entered with a few hall-passing minutes to spare with hopes in training his teacher how to call him Jim.  
  
The teacher, an older woman who had indentified herself as Mrs. Miyumoto on the chalkboard (Jim found this rather peculiar since it wasn't the first day of school for the rest of the students-- later he found out that her name had been left on the chalkboard for so long it had become inerasable), sat staring at nothing in particular at her desk, a considerable amount of ungraded papers scattered across her work area.  
  
Jim stood awkwardly in the doorway as she remained motionless. Finally, he cleared his throat. It took her a full half minute to respond.  
  
"Oh, you're Nicole, aren't you?" she asked cheerfully. Jim thought at first that she had been joking, but after a few moments, he realized she wasn't.  
  
"Um... no... I'm Jim..."  
  
"Alright, Nicole. Well, deary, you can sit right over there," she said, pointing to a seat in the far front corner. Immediately after directing Jim to his chair, she began pouring a full can of gasoline on one of the chalkboard erasers.  
  
Jim stared, dumbstruck, for a few moments, then took his seat. The bell rang not long afterwards, and Jim's classmates began pouring in through the door.   
  
"Hey, that's my seat," a rather tall (for her age) blonde claimed, towering over Jim.  
  
"Oh, sorry... Mrs. Miyumoto told me to-" Jim began.  
  
"Oh," she interrupted. "In that case... she does that to every new kid. Putting them in that seat, I mean," she added, noticing Jim's confused look. She leaned close and whispered, "A bit senile, isn't she?"  
  
Jim nodded slowly. What a screwy school this was!!  
  
"Samuel," Mrs. Miyumoto said, pausing in her eraser dousing for a moment. "Please take your seat." She emptied the first can, peered inside it, puzzled, and retrieved another can from one of her desk drawers.  
  
The blonde responded right away. "Yes, Mrs. Miyumoto." Then, to Jim, "She got the closest with my name out of the whole school... It's Samantha, by the way." Samantha walked away, finding an empty seat.  
  
The tardy bell finally rang, but the class, buzzing with murmuring voices, continued. A few students, appearing to be taking their time, entered a few minutes late without repercussion. Jim remained silent.  
  
After about fifteen minutes of class had passed, Mrs. Miyumoto (having emptied her third can) stood in front of the class, tapping the chalkboard with a yardstick. "Okay, class, we don't have any time to be dawdling. We have a very full class ahead of us!" She clapped her hands together. "Now, who can tell me what 2 + 2 is?"  
  
A smart alec kid raised his hand and replied, "Six."  
  
"Very good!" she praised, dancing from foot to foot. "A's for everyone! Now, get out your textbooks and work on Chapter 25, Section 7."  
  
The class, all at once, removed their math books from their bags- although only a few were sixth grade math books. A few even belonged to the Physics teacher from the high school.  
  
Following suit, Jim extracted a C++ instruction booklet from his backpack. After a few moments of careful pondering, he whispered to his neighbor, "What do I do?"  
  
"Just write stuff down and give it to her."  
  
After pondering for a few more minutes, he decided to write in random numbers. At least it looked SOMETHING like a math assignment...  
  
Just as he had turned his paper in, the bell rang...  
  
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Oh, come on, you just HAVE to love Mrs. Miyumoto! ^,^ I have to admit it, though, the gasoline and the chalkboard erasers was my dad's idea...  
  
Anywho, I'll be working on the fifth chapter tonight, so expect to see it sometime on Saturday or Sunday. Au revoir!  
  
~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic 


	5. Science 101

Sorry for the long wait for Chapter V... especially after I said that it probably wouldn't be a very long wait... Again, my apologies. It's been a very busy couple of days...  
  
WARNING: You may learn something from this chapter. I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped. Reader discretion is advised.  
  
**Disclaimer** I don't own Outlaw Star, but I DO own the Outlaw Star art book ^^!!! I don't own Mrs. Palumbo, either... She was my really really really bad 7th grade science teacher... I guess she owns herself. I guess.  
  
~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic  
  
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After the bell rang, Jim gathered his things to head off to his next class: Physical Science.  
  
He found the classroom with little difficulty, the teacher reading a romance novel with great interest. The sound of his footsteps on the tile floor (he assumed it was tile because it had a chemical lab in the back) startled the teacher out of her reading.  
  
"Oh, you're Jimmy, right?" Jim cringed.   
  
"Jim."  
  
"Oh, alright Jim." Jim stared. "I'm Mrs. Palumbo, and I'll be your science teacher. Please, take a seat where ever you like."  
  
Jim stared for a few more moments as Mrs. Palumbo returned to her book, then took a seat near the back. Not much later, the warning bell rang and students filed in, taking seats where ever they wished. Wally from Computer I took a seat next to Jim. The tardy bell rang, and the class grew quiet.  
  
Mrs. Palumbo immediately began class. So far, in comparison to Jim's other teachers, he was quite impressed.  
  
"Alright class, today we'll be learning about sound waves. First of all, sound waves require a medium through which to travel, which is why sounds can't be heard in space. You see, space is a huge vacuum, which means that it doesn't have air. Any questions yet?"  
  
Wally raised his hand. "Yes, Wally?" Mrs. Palumbo addressed him.  
  
"If you can't hear anything in space, then why can you hear stuff in a spaceship?"  
  
Jim supressed a laugh. What an easy question...  
  
Mrs. Palumbo stood silent for a few moments, then answered honestly, "I'm afraid that I really don't know..."  
  
Jim couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was so easy...!!  
  
His hand shot up. "I know, Mrs. Palumbo," he said, trying (and failing) to keep the annoyance out of his voice.  
  
"Please, be my guest," she replied, not noticing Jim's lack of forbearance.  
  
"Okay," he began, completely confident in his abilities. "There isn't air OUTSIDE of the spaceship, right?" Wally nodded, and Mrs. Palumbo listened intently. "But there's air INSIDE the spaceship, or else you'd have a lot of dead crew members. Get it?"  
  
Mrs. Palumbo snapped her fingers. "Oh, of course! I knew that!"  
  
Jim looked at her with contempt. "Of course you did..." he mumbled.  
  
Mrs. Palumbo continued the class, making false statements left and right, and, after correcting her for the upteenth time, Jim finally gave up and started doodling in his notebook.  
  
Wally peered over Jim's shoulder and stifled a laugh poorly. "That's Mrs. Palumbo, right?" he whispered.  
  
Jim grimaced, but before he could explain that it was an attempt at Iris from Clyde's bar on Sentinnel III, Mrs. Palumbo approached them.  
  
"Do my ears burn?" she said, her eyes slowly drifting towards the paper. Mrs. Palumbo, being a rather heavy-set woman, was flattered.  
  
"Oh! Oh my!" she cried, cheeks coloring. "This will have to go up on my wall! Wonderful, Jim!"   
  
Jim buried his face in his coat as the rest of the class quietly taunted "teacher's pet".   
  
After gazing at the doodle for a few moments, Mrs. Palumbo assigned a worksheet of homework, and the bell rang.  
  
Jim was more than a little relieved to get out of the classroom.  
  
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^,^ ooh, I almost feel sorry for Jim! ...almost. Actually, the whole sound waves in space was based on a true story... *shudder* Mrs. Palumbo was actually only meant to be a substitute teacher, but then they made her the 7th grade science teacher due to budget cuts at our school... Damn that Gray Davis.  
  
Anywho, this time I won't be making any promises for upcoming chapters. I suppose you'll just have to wait and see... I'm still contemplating the next chapter (meaning that I have no idea what's coming next...), so... yeah. Ja!  
  
~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic 


	6. Social Studies

Again, sorry for the obscenely long wait for another chapter... I just got out of band camp (alright, get over your giggle fit... we're here to win state! Yeah!), and we just started school today... Soo... um... yeah. Anywho... um................ TA DA!  
  
**Disclaimer: Still don't own Outlaw Star, characters, blah blah blah blah... Mr. King owns himself, however, just like how Mrs. Palumbo herself...**  
  
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Jim hurried to his next class, still attempting to recover from the embarassment he was subjected to in his previous class. He ran all the way to his Social Studies covering his eyes-- so much so, in fact, he ran head-first into the open door. The teacher, who appeared to be exiting the classroom for a quick cigarette break, looked at him with alarm, and immediately helped him up.  
  
"You alright, kid?" he said, once Jim was back on his feet.  
  
"Yeah..." replied Jim groggily, grabbing his bag off the floor. He then gazed blearily at the teacher. "Are you Mr. King?" He didn't want to get his hopes up, but he was certainly praying to every deity he knew of (and some that he didn't know of) that this was him.  
  
"Yeah, I am," he replied, reluctantly replacing his cigarette pack back in his shirt pocket. "Hey, are you that new kid... Jimmy?"  
  
"Jim," he corrected blandly. Stupid counselor...  
  
"Oh, alright... Well, I'm Mr. King... Umm.. Just go in and choose a seat, I guess..." Mr. King gestured towards the interior of the classroom, which consisted of six long tables put together to form three sides of a square, the open side facing towards the whiteboard. A few students had already arrived early, and were studying their notes while eating select healthfoods-- one, for instance, was distractedly chewing an apple, staring intently at one particular line in his notes, while another across the room from the first struggled with a banana peel. Jim took a seat in the center of a table facing the whiteboard directly.   
  
Not long after Jim had seated himself, a few other students (none of them from Mrs. Palumbo's Physical Science class, to his relief )quietly entered and began reviewing their notes as well. The first warning bell rang, and the remainder of Jim's classmates filed in, chatting quietly amongst themselves. After a few more moments, the tardy bell rang, and Mr. King immediately began class. Jim crossed his fingers underneath the table. Several of the students were now eating snacks.  
  
"Okay, first thing, everyone, here's our new student, Jim Hawking," Mr. King gestured towards Jim. Immediately, a few whispers and giggles erupted around the edges of the three-sided square; a few times, Jim was sure, he heard Mrs. Palumbo's name mentioned, and he blushed. Mr. King grinned, seemingly aware of last period's embarassment. Jim assumed his classmates had been talking to people from Mrs. Palumbo's class.  
  
"Alright," Mr. King called back the class's attention back to himself. "Pop quiz. Take out a sheet of notebook paper, number one through three today--" He stopped, and seemed to have noticed Jim's increased discomfort at the mention of a quiz. "Don't worry about it today, Jim-- just write down the questions and the answers, and be sure to take good notes in case if we have one next class."  
  
The quiz, Jim deduced, was over the beginnings of U.S. history, nearly ANCIENT history now. He took careful notes as the quiz answers were discussed.  
  
Not long after the quiz, the class was in a heated discussion (a bit of a way off the subject) about ancient Northern California being forced to provide water to Southern California due to population differences in voting.  
  
"Because the population's higher in Southern California," Mr. King explained, "they overthrew the votes from Northern California, who didn't want to share their water with them."  
  
"The bastards!" one student (meant) to mutter under his breath, but had apparently spoken too loudly. He quickly clapped his hands over his face.  
  
"Damn straight!" Mr. King concurred vehemently. Jim was throroughly impressed. Not only could this teacher remember his name, indentify the fact that he was a male, and teach his subject competently, but he also gave a considerable amount of leeway for valid, however vulgar, opinions. Mr. King also seemed able to connect with his students well. More often than not, they called him "Stinky" due to his admittedly nasty odor, likely from his smoking habit. In turned, he referred to the class as a whole as "those little snot-nosed brats".   
  
Just as soon as the class seemed to be getting started, to Jim's disappointment, the bell rang. The class spilled out from the room in an orderly fashion, Mr. King waiting only moments before he left as well. Jim noticed that he had neglected to bring his cigarettes, however...  
  
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Not as long as it could have been, considering how long it's been since I've written a chapter... ^_^;;; sorry!!! Bad, busy Nekofujin... No promises on the next chapter, I'm afraid, although this time I have a *slight* idea of what it's going to be about. 


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